Isn’t she pretty? I’m fairly sure it’s a she. A Striped Marsh Frog, Limnodynastes peronii. From the call, I know there are lots of them in my garden, but she’s well disguised and I don’t often see them. Unlike the big Green Tree Frog – I have to check my boots every time before I put them on because she really likes hiding in them. Or the Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog that I often see perched on leaves in the garden.
Striped Marsh Frogs eat insects, snails and slugs. In the early days of this garden, I had to waste some good Corona beer on slug traps, but between the resident frogs and lizards, my slug and snail populations are now well under control.
Tadpoles eat mosquito larvae. Lots of them.
The frogs, and the lizards, moved in of their own accord. All three of the frog species I’ve seen here are common, ubiquitous down the east coast of Australia. Striped Marsh Frogs have a range from Cairns to Launceston, anywhere reasonably wet. They don’t mind urban environments except that, like all frogs (and most aquatic or amphibian species), they are highly sensitive to RoundUp ® (and its Chinese-made clones).
Use RoundUp to get rid of your bindii-eyes or your lantana, and you end up having to use insecticide on your skin to ward off mosquitoes. And then snail bait.
Quite apart from their reducing the risk of malaria, dengue, or zika getting a hold, or rat lung worm, I like having frogs around. Listening to them at night reminds me that life is pretty wonderful.
I’m pretty sure the tadpoles in my water chestnuts are Limnodynastes peronii. Perhaps there is a frog expert out there to tell us?
Hi Linda,
You use an old bathtub for your water chestnuts (and to house your frogs). Is it in sun or shade or a combination? Is it possible to use a smaller container when space is at a premium? And what other aquatic plants have you placed in it? Perhaps you could do a specific post about your pond, where to place it and how to plant it? Thanks so much.
I’ll do a post. That’s a good idea :). Short answer: In our little suburban garden, space is at a premium! We have a lovely old, cast iron, double sink that my partner found being thrown out. It is set on some bessa bricks at the south end of a bed, south of a trellis, so it is pretty well always in dappled shade. I think the heaviness of it is useful – it provides a bit of heat mass that stops it heating up or cooling down too fast. One sink is planted with water chestnuts, the other with kang kong. I suspect both would do better with a bit more sun, but the flip side of that would be more evaporation, and in a small sink it would be easy for it to go dry in hot weather. So it’s a compromise, but the sink yields enough kang kong and water chestnuts for us, and is a drinking spot for birds and lizards, and a breeding spot for frogs, so it is doing its job.